Bishop Brendan Leahy, Bishop of Limerick, offers a reflection on Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, which came out of the Second Vatican Council. It was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on December 4, 1963.
Revision of the Liturgy
One of the first issues considered by the council, and the matter that had the most immediate effect on the lives of individual Catholics, was the revision of the liturgy. The central idea was that there ought to be greater lay participation in the liturgy.
“Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people (1 Peter 2:9; cf. 2:4–5), is their right and duty by reason of their baptism.” Sacrosanctum Concilium 14